1. My Poppop, on his 80th Birthday-silver-haired, soft-spoken, conveniently hearing impaired, well-traveled, committed, big-hearted, very leaky (he says he leaks, he is a huge crier), warm, spiritual, strong hearted (in more ways than one- his doctor just told him he has at least 15 good years left in him!), in touch with nature, hunter, gun-lover, sucker for babies, tree survivor, veteran, artist, arrow head collector, sudoku master, wood worker, coconut shrimp appreciator, father to 8 (blood or not), grandfather to 15, great grandfather to 2. My Poppop is a quiet haven and a leaky well of love. We are incredibly blessed to have him as a grandfather, and he makes 80 look good. Happy birthday Poppop!

2. F Murray Abraham's Oscar Speech- Apparently in honor of my Poppop's birthday, I have been extra leaky today. Case and point, I watched a youtube video of F Murray Abraham winning an Oscar and got weirdly emotional. Like, way emotional. You can look it up, it is certainly not a tear jerking speech. And I'll be honest, I still haven't finished that horrifying slog of a movie, so it's not like I found his performance that compelling. And from what I have read since, the guy turned out to be a bit of an asshole, and its not like you can name anything else he was in. He was born in Pittsburgh though. I didn't know that at the time, but I do instantly love anything from Western Pennsylvania. It's its own kind of sickness.

3. Decorating our Apartment! One of the very best days of the year.
Bonus:
4. Andy Cohen's haircut- Eeep. Trying too hard. But endearing. Also the guy in his underwear on the show tonight is making Nick even angrier.

5. Muppet Christmas Carol- Yeah, I got teared up at this too! I was so leaky today! I am willing to argue this is the best Christmas movie of all time. It is freaking fantastic from start to finish, and it has a message you can really get behind.
6. Days where we are not buying plane tickets- I wish everyone knew that seeing our faces at Christmas costs us way more than most gift shopping. It is never ever a good day when we buy our tickets home for Christmas (especially because we always JUST bought our Thanksgiving tickets). After this, we aren't going to see the keystone state for months, let me tell you.

So you are having a baby or planning a baby shower- congratulations! Life is about to get that much cuter. Also, that much more covered i...

About me

Barbara AlfeoGateway environmentalist. Trying to be a maker, not just a passive consumer. Will settle for active and informed consumer. Lots of ideas for shopping, traveling, volunteering, and parenting while staying inspired!